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Anthropology Faculty Publications Anthropology

2011

So Far, Yet Home? The Impact of Colonization and Globalization

on the Philippine Family
Kathleen Nadeau
California State University, San Bernardino., knadeau@csusb.edu

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Nadeau, Kathleen, "So Far, Yet Home? The Impact of Colonization and Globalization on the Philippine
Family" (2011). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 7.
https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/anthro-publications/7

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Nadeau, Kathleen 2011. “So Far, Yet Home? The Impact of
Colonization and Globalization on the Philippine Family” in
East Asian Pastoral Review, Vol. 48, No. 3: 247-257.

K ATHLEEN N ADEAU

SO FAR, YET HOME?

The Impact of Colonization and
Globalization on the Philippine Family

T
his paper looks at the changing role of the Filipino family
from precapitalist to present times. After exploring the issue
of how the precolonial and precapitalist family changed in
response to colonization, it focuses on the question of how
the underlying structure of the modern family has changed
as a result of the impact of global capitalism. The paper ends with a
brief reflection on some of the implications of changed family rela-
tions, structures, and roles for the moral fiber of the family and econ-
omy.

Introduction: Precapitalist family and Society

The Philippine family regime in precolonial times was a vast and
complex system that had no parallels in Europe (cf. Baldick 1962).
The family consisted of the incorporation of the couple into the social
hierarchy of the local community, which emerged under the leader-
ship of a protector with charismatic qualities. Kinship played a role
in the development of social hierarchy on the islands (Andaya 2006;
Wolters 1982; Rafael 1988). However, there was no state-led bureau-
cratic authority as in early imperial China, India, or Siam, among
other examples. Instead, local kingdoms, or fiefdoms, shifted and
emerged in response to local experiences and circumstances. There
were many competing centers of power whose rulers strove not to
colonize their neighbors but, rather, include them in their network of
kith and kin. Mostly males but also females served as political lead-
ers. One may go so far as to speculate that Filipino women may have
enjoyed a position that was mutually respectful of the others’ dignity
in relation to men, more so than did women in ancient China or
Mongolia, for example, where historical records resound with manly
2 • EAST ASIAN PASTORAL REVIEW 48 (2011) 4

voices saying women are only for pleasure and their ability to bear
children. Barbara Andaya (2006, Ch. 6) documents more than a
handful of cases of Malay-Indonesian queens leading royal follow-
ings in their own right, although there is no later evidence of their
existence after the eighteenth century, which makes sense if the colo-
nizers chose not to work through them (p. 169). The boundaries
marking early Indonesian and Philippine polities fluctuated as new
alliances formed, histories merged, and new leaders arose.
According to Laura Lee Junker (1999a, 78), early lord-vassal rela-
tionships in the Philippines and the wider region of which it was part
were structured and patterned after those of the family. Andaya
(1992, 408) explains that the exchange of women that strengthened
and solidified lord-vassal ties for children conceived, in and out of
wedlock, were visible signs of kinship. As she explains,

elite intermarriages and the flow of women through hypergam-

ous marriages to men, especially datus, of higher rank were tied
to a prestige goods economy through bride wealth payments,
which redistributed foreign porcelains and other accumulated
status goods between “wife-takers” and “wife-givers.” (Andaya
1992, 81)

That is, successful leaders were able to accumulate a large quantity of

prestige goods and slaves in the wider maritime economy that con-
tributed to the pool of wealth to be drawn from making political
marriage alliances for the kinship group. “Heirlooms and other sta-
tus goods flowed to the women’s kin groups, while it was primarily
‘prestige,’ which flowed to the man’s kin group” (Junker 2000, 299).
A man’s prestige was tied to the status of his wives-to-be and the ex-
travagance of the public display of the bride wealth payment his fam-
ily could offer.
If the man’s kin could not afford to pay the bride price, the pro-
spective husband could sell himself into slavery to his father-in-law
in the form of bride price, much in the same way as Jacob did for the
hand of Rachel and Leah, as told in the Old Testament. Adelamar
Alcantara (1994, 95) explains that by so doing, a man demonstrated
his sincerity and strong work ethic to his wife’s family by effectively
proving that he would be a good provider. His services to her family
could last for a few months or longer, until the woman’s family was
sufficiently satisfied that he would become a worthy member of the
family. However, later, this practice would be largely outlawed as a
result of Spanish colonial Catholicism in the sixteenth century.
 Nadeau: So Far, Yet Home? • 3

In brief, important genealogical claims were the fulcrum around

which the ancient regime of the family was oriented and found its
being. These familial claims were based on achieving a founding line
of descent and establishing fictive kinship relations horizontally in
the present. This emphasis on the present had an impact on how so-
cial and political bonds emerged at the local levels, where social rela-
tions, not private property, were most highly valued. In this context
customary interactions between local leaders and family heads and
their immediate and adopted kin, including those who were in and
out of debt, or enslaved, were ordinarily mutually respectful.

Impact of Colonization
By the sixteenth century, when the Spaniards came to the Phil-
ippines, local people were trading with other royal polities across the
seas much like communities living along the Silk Road had done for
centuries. Foreigners brought silks, precious porcelains, iron imple-
ments and tools, and other products to the Philippines, in exchange
for gold, pearls, resins, medicinal herbs, beeswax, rattans, exotic
flowers, various kinds of woods, other rich forest and sea products,
and textiles and other handicrafts. One of the earliest known mari-
time states to do business with the Philippines was the Sri-Vijaya
Empire coming out of Sumatra, Indonesia, which controlled east-
west trade through the straight of Malacca for 400 years from 700 to
1100 CE (Abinales and Amoroso 2005). The ancient Chinese also
traded with the Philippines, at least since the Tang and Sung dynas-
ties of the 10th and 11th centuries (Nadeau 2008, 23).
Spanish colonization (1521-1896) led to the decline of pre-
existing and often prosperous economic and political centers in the
Philippines, due to lack of any real incentives for the “Indios” (e.g.,
see Mojares 1991). The Spaniards attempted to monopolize and con-
trol the trade routes by requiring by law that all goods be coursed
through Manila. They worked through local headman who helped
them to exploit and exact tribute from their followers. This strategy
destroyed the criteria governing the pre-existing follower-leader sys-
tem because it supported collaborators and disempowered any lead-
er who would go against them. Precolonial leadership roles were
open and contestable, even when inherited, because they were part of
autonomous communities that shifted as new leaders emerged. Lo-
cal leaders were family-like heads of large households who earned
their positions by means of attracting a large group of loyal follow-
ers. The Spanish, as did the American colonizers who came later,
4 • EAST ASIAN PASTORAL REVIEW 48 (2011) 4

undermined this authentic leadership system by using the military to

put their own crony chiefs in power to do their bidding.
The colonizers negotiated their terms of settlement mainly
through the agency of male leaders, while females, who, hypotheti-
cally, held positions of high esteem and authority in the bilateral and
complimentary contexts of the precolonial family system, were dis-
placed. The ancient regime of the family in the early Philippines dif-
fered substantially from that of Spain. Differences in gender roles,
for example, may have simply been differences in work patterns that
complemented each other, with a feeling of mutuality and dignity, to
form an undifferentiated whole. By contrast, women in Spain were
probably seen as potential competitors with men, who had to be kept
in their place. Scholars like Blanc-Szanton (1990) and Errington (1990)
stressed that early Filipino ideology of gender differences was com-
plementary. The opposite sexes complemented each other rather
than competed against each other.
In Southeast Asia, the authentic leader-follower system (still) is
the realization that a relation of authority of high over low exists, that
master and disciple, teacher and student, parents and children need
each other in striving for ascendancy. This relation is based on coop-
eration, not competition. Spanish, like American colonial policy, at-
tempted to solidify local leadership positions, and in effect, trans-
formed local leaders into permanent lower-level authorities, as long
as they cooperated. Rafael (pp. 13-17) argues that “the extension of
Spanish colonial rule into local communities generated new divisions
between natives who paid tribute and natives who collected it.” The
indigenous elite now sanctioned by outside military force could op-
portunistically shift between colonial overlords and their subjects.
They could take surplus from a community and keep part of it for
themselves in the form of goods or indentured servitude. Although
the local leaders were accorded land and freed from tribute and
corvee labor by the Spaniards, their prior wealth and power derived
less from the land than from the tribute and services rendered by
their followers. The colonial government, be that of Spain or the
United States, undermined this older system by exacting head taxes
on all commoners. It accomplished this through warfare and indoc-
trination and conversion. Subjects fled from tax collectors and for-
mer rulers, or when prevented from doing so, insidiously and, some-
times, openly rebelled.
Undoubtedly, the Spanish and, later, American colonization pro-
cess had a disintegrating effect on the pre-existing regime of the fami-
ly.
 Nadeau: So Far, Yet Home? • 5

Impact of Globalization: Outsourcing Laborers

Under colonization, the Philippines produced crops and mined
minerals for sale and export on the world market. After gaining in-
dependence in 1946, it began rebuilding the nation, which was devas-
tated by World War II (1935-1945). The Philippines underwent rapid
development and modernization. By1960, it was being showcased as
a model for development in the region. It had a newly emerging
middle class and one of the highest literacy rates in Asia. However,
when Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, the economy
was going toward shambles. The already high unemployment and
inflation rate was increasing as a result of the oil crisis of the early
1970s. Marcos also absconded foreign aid moneys for himself and his
cronies that had been targeted for rural development projects. Disen-
franchised agricultural workers were pouring en masse into already
overcrowded cities looking for work. Meanwhile, the high demand
for labor in the Gulf States began to attract Filipinos in huge num-
bers. The Marcos government capitalized on this overseas employ-
ment trend by establishing a mandatory overseas employment train-
ing and placement program to gain new tax revenues.
By the 1990s, the Asian economic crisis pushed yet another out-
flow of migrant workers from the Philippines. However, this time
there were many more new opportunities for women to work as do-
mestic housemaids, nannies, and nurses, among other service indus-
try jobs. By 2001, more than 90% of all overseas contract workers
were females (2001 Migration Statistics Sheet; also 2000 Fast Facts on
Philippine Labor Migration). This unprecedented feminization of
migration from the Philippines was accompanied by social networks
of non-government organizations, churches, and families, which, in
turn, exerted a transformative influence over the prevailing concept
of the family, as many mothers took on the traditional Filipino male
role of breadwinner.
The 2000 demographic profile of the Philippines reported that
female new hires dominated the service and professional occupa-
tions. Approximately, 7.29 million overseas Filipinos were working
in 187 countries around the world in 2001. During this time period,
remittances from overseas contract workers through banks reached
US$8 billion (The Philippine Star daily newspaper January 22, 2000).
Only 0.1% or 333 of the deployed female new hires were in manage-
rial positions in 1999, while 91% of the newly deployed women were
service workers (domestic helpers, caretakers, hotel workers, and
those in similar occupations). (Fast Facts on Philippine Labor Migra-
tion: 11, 2000).
6 • EAST ASIAN PASTORAL REVIEW 48 (2011) 4

In 2010, the Philippine National Statistics Office reported that an

estimated million Filipinos leave the country to work overseas each
year. In 2009, there were an estimated 8.7 to 11 million overseas Fili-
pinos worldwide, which is 11% of the total population of the Philip-
pines. In 2008, some US$15.9 billion were remitted back to the Phil-
ippines, up from US$14.4 billion in 2007. In 2009, remittances from
overseas Filipino workers totaled about US$17,348 billion. The ma-
jority of these overseas Filipinos worked as domestics and in the per-
sonal care services.

The overseas migration of contract workers is a major source of

foreign currency for the Philippines and helps raise the standard of
living for thousands of families but at what cost? Female migrants
often suffer ethnic and gender discrimination in the host countries.
Some risk being sexually assaulted or having their wages and pass-
ports withheld by their employers. Mothers separated from their
children and spouses suffer tremendously, as do children, and hus-
bands, who emotionally need their mothers, and wives. Children
without mothers, husbands without wives, sometimes have terrible
behavior problems because they feel abandoned, emotionally. What
happens when family members depend on someone working over-
seas to buy them what they want? Does this create issues of depend-
ency and lack of appreciation for the value of hard work? There are
so many questions. While non-government organizations contest
and protest against discriminatory practices in the host societies (Law
and Nadeau 1999; Lindio-McGovern 2004), and churches often offer a
loving and supportive community for the better wellbeing of migrant
workers, so much more needs to be done. While the well-known so-
lution is for the government to take the lead in providing opportuni-
ties for Filipinos to build a better Philippines, instead of outsourcing
so much talent to work for strangers, it is easier to say than do. Final-
ly, what happens when one labors inside the Philippines but earns
not enough to support themselves or their family?

Globalization: The Influx of Call Centers

Before discussing the resilience of the Filipino family, when
separated for long periods of time by huge geographical distances,
this section looks at the issue of how the family has changed as a re-
sult of globalization as young people get connected with the call-
center culture. This question is raised, mainly, for further discussion
and future research work, as there is scant literature available. The
Philippines has overtaken India as the number one destination for
 Nadeau: So Far, Yet Home? • 7

the call-center industry, employing some 350,000 operators as com-

pared with India’s 330,000, according to the January 9, 2011, news
release, “Philippines passes India in call-center jobs,” published in
USA Today. The Contact Center of the Philippines reports that call-
centers generated some $6.3 billion in tax revenues last year. As well,
the government offers some scholarships to train workers and tax
incentives to multinational corporations that bring jobs into the coun-
try. However, the Philippine family is changing from globalization
and the incoming of the global services industry because young peo-
ple connected with the call-center culture think that it is the global
culture, yet the reality for them is very different.
Lots of young people also are dying young from, e.g., kidney
problems because they work in call-centers. Fristine de Gula (2010)
refers to such kinds of diseases as “lifestyle diseases.” Call-center
operators are prone to getting hypertension and stroke, ulcers and
acid reflux, diabetes and anemia because they work at night, sit at
their stations for long hours, without relieving themselves until their
break times, and eat fast food, because that is what is available and
they do not have time to go outside to eat right! Accordingly:

They practically live on unhealthy diets of processed food,

smokes, cups of coffee and severe lack of exercise: a significant
number of them believe having drinks with colleagues after
work [at 7 AM in the morning] is somewhat necessary to build
up their social relationships and rapport. These practices lead to
whole host of diseases that traditionally were seen in old people
and may even lead to depression and family discord (De Gula,
2010).

The call-centers are air conditioned to create the ambiance of be-

ing in America. But this gives the young people a distorted percep-
tion of what is happening and what kind of life they want for their
future. Those who are married go home to sleep during the daytime
hours while their children are awake. There is no communication
between them. The parents want to preserve the family but how can
they do that if their stomachs are empty?

Inner Persistence and Strength of the Family

In 1986, the first “People Power Revolution” overthrew the dic-
tator, Ferdinand Marcos, and they did so peacefully. In 2001, the
second Peoples Power Revolution ousted the inept and corrupt Pres-
ident Joseph Estrada from power. He was succeeded by President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. In 2010, Benigno Aquino III was popular-
8 • EAST ASIAN PASTORAL REVIEW 48 (2011) 4

ly elected into the presidency. Although leading families and mili-

tary elites still control powerful governmental posts, they are being
called to account by peoples movements calling for greater equity,
justice, and democracy. Despite the tumultuous and rapidly chang-
ing times, the resilience of the Filipino family living in the great dias-
pora becomes evident.
Gelia Castillo (1968, 116; in Medina, 17) explains that the Filipi-
no family is residentially nuclear but functionally extended. In other
words, it is common practice for young married couples living in a
barrio setting to set up their own independent nuclear household but
their parents usually live across the way. That is, the household tends
to be nuclear in form but the family is extended in so far as relation-
ships between members of the wider kin group are concerned.
Members of the same kin group assist one another in time of need,
and they participate together in joint family activities even if they do
not live together in the same household or are living overseas. If the
family living together in the same residential unit includes members
other than a husband, wife, and their children, it is an extended fami-
ly household. Many Filipino families living in the Philippines and
abroad such as in Canada or southern California actually live in ex-
tended family households. It is practical and common for Filipino
migrants looking for work in distant cities to be housed by relatives
already in residence there, if they have them. Filipinos who have
made it abroad are well known to sincerely invite parents to stay as
part of their filial obligations. The family household may include
grandparents, an unmarried aunt, an uncle or a cousin, a niece or
nephew.
The Filipino nuclear family household, today, still is more com-
monly found in the rural areas than in the cities, or abroad. That is,
to say it again, is quite expensive for a typical family, or single per-
son, starting a new life in the city to rent, build, or purchase a home
right away. It is much easier for a family to construct a dwelling
made of light materials such as bamboo and other natural plants that
are freely available in a natural village or barrio setting. These sim-
ple homes are considered by many educated Filipinos today to be
elegant and environmentally attuned with nature. This appreciation
for traditional dwellings was not the case under the influence of
American colonialism and Americanization, when concrete homes
with corrugated steel roofs were introduced to replace them. Also,
kin members can build their household dwellings close to each other
in rural communities, which may not be an option in the city. More-
over, Filipinos who move away to study or work in cities, locally and
 Nadeau: So Far, Yet Home? • 9

abroad, tend to stay with their more affluent relatives, and this in-
creases the size of the family household.
Virginia Miralao (1997) examines the transformation of Philip-
pine society in relation to modernization theories that were first in-
troduced by Durkheim and Weber. These evolutionary models pos-
ited that as societies modernize, social relationships become more
impersonal and business-like. At the same time, modern societies
were characterized as being less religiously oriented and more scien-
tifically grounded. But Philippine society does not accord with this
predictive model. While dehumanization processes caused by top-
down globalization are all pervasive in Philippine society, popular
religious and social movements for an alternative, holistic, and inte-
gral development paradigm are ascending. Moreover, family and
family-like relationships are highly valued in the work place.
Filipinos prefer to have smooth interpersonal relations, and tend
to create an atmosphere in which the people around them feel com-
fortable and accepted. There is a strong concept of face in the Philip-
pines. This means that Filipinos are taught to be sensitive to other
people’s feelings and, generally, do not say words that may embar-
rass or shame a fellow human being (Miralao 1997). Parents also
consider it their duty to provide for the material and educational
needs of their children, if affordable. Children are expected to obey
and respect their parents and to take care of them when they grow
old. Decision-making, traditionally and currently even in Filipino
America, is typically not done independently or arbitrarily on one’s
own but rather, in consultation and by reaching a consensus. Older
children, until they get married and have a family of their own, are
expected to help younger siblings with school, and to assist them in
getting a job after graduation. While the traditional regime of the
Philippine family that overruled ancient society, no doubt, has been
overturned and changed, its underlying structure based on feelings
of resistance against those who would breakup and disenfranchise
the family and of helping one another to succeed continues into the
21st century.
10 • EAST ASIAN PASTORAL REVIEW 48 (2011) 4

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